Smeltz tempted by offers overseas

Smeltz tempted by offers overseas

http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/football/a-league/overseas-calling-smeltz/2009/09/09/1252201268165.html

Smeltz tempted by offers overseas

COMPETITION leaders Gold Coast United may have staved off one bid for top scorer Shane Smeltz this week, but the player's representative admits the New Zealand international remains ''tempted'' by the huge money on offer in the Middle East.

The deal that took Melbourne Victory striker Danny Allsopp to Qatari side Al-Rayyan this week had been earmarked for Smeltz, and his agent, Leo Karis, admits he's ''still scratching his head'' about the sudden turn of events.

Smeltz, currently in the Middle East where the All Whites were due to play Jordan in a World Cup warm-up match last night, signed a three-year deal with Gold Coast at the end of last season, but already billionaire owner Clive Palmer has had to fend off several offers for a player in the best scoring form of his career.

Only recently Palmer again issued a ''not for sale'' edict, but it's understood Smeltz's deal includes a get-out clause of $300,000 if he receives a legitimate offer from overseas. Keeping hold of Smeltz - whose double against Sydney FC last weekend took his tally to eight goals in five rounds this season - remains perhaps Gold Coast's toughest task as they aim to win the championship in their debut season.

Karis confirmed last night there had been ''interest'' from Al-Rayyan for the past three weeks, saying: ''We were told they were talking to a Korean, but they were never that confident of doing a deal, and if it fell through then they would be making an offer for Shane. Now, all of a sudden, they've signed Danny Allsopp, who would have cost them a lot more [it's believed Melbourne Victory received a $850,000 transfer fee]. One minute they were red-hot for Shane, next minute they've signed another player. Like me, Shane is still scratching his head about how it's turned out.''

Asked whether Smeltz would now be a restive player at Gold Coast, Karis replied: ''Let's put it this way, there's obviously a lot of money floating around from the Middle East, and like any player Shane would be tempted by the right offer. At the moment, he's happy at the Gold Coast, and I'm not on a campaign to export him from Australia. But you never know what's around the corner.''

Gold Coast have already lost one player to the Middle East since the start of the season - midfielder Adam Griffiths joined Saudi Arabian side Al Shabab after just one game for his new club. The catalyst for the sudden interest from the cashed-up clubs in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar is the Asian Football Confederation's new ''3+1 rule'', and this week Allsopp became Al-Rayyan's designated Asian player.

There was some good news yesterday, with Melbourne's marquee star Archie Thompson believed to have pledged his future to the club until at least the end of the group stage of next year's Asian Champions League campaign.

So it sounds like Aussies are going to be worth a lot more to the Middle Eastern clubs because they are part of the Asian Confederation?

Smeltz is an Aussie, as well as being a kiwi.